stop that pigeon

 Pigeons lined up ready to devour everything in sight

We have an award einning allotmenteer on our sight but he hasnt been seen this year. Nobody seems to know why so a little worried.  Anyway, the pigeons have moved in snd set up camp on and above his plot.

Brassicas planted out this week so a cover of enviromesh made.

We have used this rather than netting hoping that it will also keep away those horrible little thrips

Dahlias in

The dahlia bid has been built and dahlias in.  The bed is the right size for 10 - 12 plants so I put 17 in as there isn't an inch of space snywhere for them.  I still have 2 in very large pots which will have to stay thst way.

yes, we have tomatos

Beefsteak on its way.  I have never tried them before and not sure how to support the weight of the toms as the plant has gone a bit leggy already.

Compost bin put to bed

 Another full compost bin so i have covered with an old brushed cottom sheet to let it rot down.


Need to empty one of the others to start using as i dont know where it all comes ftom.

Dahlias

I have moved the dahlias out of the greenhouse but goodness knows where i sm hoing to put them.  There is a space for a bed brlow the strawberries but i definately have more than will fit.

holiday time

There is a strip along the siee of the rsised beds whrre the soil is really poor. We covered so thst contsiners could be used.  There is sn old dustbin and noe two old suitcsses down with dwarf beans.

The trunk hughrr up has a butternut squash which sould be able to vr kept well fed anf should scrsmble fown the slope.

The broad beans are covered in flowers although they are still really small so i hope they get taller.   Peas arent much better

All the seeds sown in the roots bed have sppeared do fingers crossed for some good beetroot and parsnips this year.

3 bales of hay

Nick read that barley straw, spread thickly, kills weeds and acts as a mulch around trees.  With this knowledge he arranged for three bales to be delivered to the allotment.

He slightly misjudged how big the bales would be, especially as it all had to be moved onto our plot.

I also take this opportunity to model the pinafore I made from a stash discovered while clearing my mother in law's house.

      4 hours later, a thick layer over most of the tree area and a bit left over!!!!!

We do still have the fruit cage to do but i have a feeling the trees are going to get an even thicker layer.

We might bring some home as a treat for the ducks or I could make a few dozen matresses.                                      

We're back

After a long period of allotment lethargy, we are back this year with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

The greenhouse is bursting at the seams and what a difference a week makes.

One side is taken up with dahlias potted up in March.

Mostly named varieties but some are random bits that I found in the bottom of bags so could turn out to be any size, shape or colour.















 Just a month later and they are all springing to life along with a rather large nettle which has got through the gap at the bottom of the glass.


Too early to go outside yet but the space is desperately needed.

Taking a step back to the reason why there is a blue tarpaulin under the puts and how the greenhouse looked in February, this is the mess of bindweed that I pulled out - Yuk.











We decided that this year was the time to invest a little but of money in making raised beds.  We have a fantastic sawmill not far away so drove down and picked up 2 x 12ft lengths per bed cut to 8ft long by 4 ft wide.  I am not sure that it is what Alfa Romeo had in mind when designing their cars but it just about fit.

We had one bed already so two more on that side of the allotment with ground cover on the paths.

We have now started on the other side with room for five.

Nick does love getting his box of tools out at the allotment.

 We decided that maintaining two greenhouses was too much so one was taken away and the beds left have been boarded as a strawberry bed on one side and the other I am intending to plant with dahlias this year.

Unfortunately rain stopped play yesterday evening and the strong winds today meant that no path laying could be done.

Further updates to follow including details of the potato bed and the suitcase pottager.

Such a perfect day

before, during and after.

Bartons Mill was the most wonderful venue and beautiful weather.

Normal service will be resumed shortly

Due to Wedding planning, our service has been interrupted but will resume shortly. We apologise for any inconvenience during this time.

A different sort of bird

I have been very diligent throughout the Winter in making sure the birds have plenty of food and water.

It is lovely, not that it is Spring to see the Long Tail Tits back and a new bird that I haven't see non the bird table before.

Now that's what I call and icicle

Under the railway bridge in Old Basing near the Millstone PH.

Allotment update

We took the opportunity to reclaim the allotment over Chrismas as it was in such a terrible neglected state.

It actually didn't take that long to get the beds weeded and dug over. We had 5 trips to the tip with the trailer loaded of Jewson bags full of weeds and one full of rubbish so a very refreshing clear out.










I also took the opportunity to give the greenhouses a good clearout. They were both packed with old pots, many of the cracked or damaged so any that didn't meet a very stringent vetting process, went for recycling. The soil in the beds is getting a bit thin and lifeless so my next job is to shovel it all out into a raised bed (work in progress) and get some new good stuff in so hopefully we will get some good crops going this year.









One great surprise was that I had forgotten about a row of carrots I sewed in July. As this is after the risk of carrot root fly damage, they should be good. Unfortunately I forgot about them in the Autumn but the frost and snow doesn't seem to have done any damage and we have a great box full of lovely little carrots. Not as sweet as they would have been but still lovely.

Remember this

You may remember this. A few months ago we purchased this cabinet from May's auction.

It has been on the bench in my shed for a few months undergoing transformation but I haven't been able to show it to you as Katy caught a glimpse of it in the early stages of transformation and just happened to mentioin how well it would fit in her porch. Not being one to miss a hint, it was on her Christmas list.









It also served as a perfect hiding place for her other Christmas presents.













One 70's Beezer annual and a new handle later - it is transformed.

It was too heavy for her to take away on Chrismas day so Angel tested it out for Tiger and full approved of it as a lookout post.

Grey or Red

We had a couple of visitors yesterday who decided that they liked the taste of hawthorne berries. There were two cheeky squirells who spent the afternoon filling themsleves up. I was really surprised by their colouring as they were both grey with red heads and backs. They looked like youngsters to me so I am surprised that we haven't had more damage to the bird feeders as a family of squirrels would soon strip their way throught a feeder.

Maybe they keep their distance from the ducks.

Back to the snow

For the second time this year we have snow. This time we are well off compared to many areas of the country as we only have about 6 inches.

I have been distracted from working all day but a cheeky blackbird who found the apples tht we had left hanging on the tree.

He has munched his way through most of the apply by returning every few minutes. He did take a break in the middle of the day but was back to fill up before sun down.

So sweet

One bonus from the allotment is some carrots that I sewed in July. Waiting this late means that they don't get carrot fly but they don't get time to get very big. They are soooooo sweet though.

This is just a small part of the row so lots more where these came from.